Medical professionals such as nurses and doctors routinely treat patients having surface wounds of varying size, shape, and severity. Variations in wound type and other patient indications dictate variations in desired medications for treatment, such as antibiotics, growth factors, enzymes, hormones, insulin, anesthetics, and the like. The nature of a wound further prescribes variations in treatment protocols, such as delivery rates for medication and temperature control.
It is known that controlling the topical atmosphere adjacent a surface wound can enhance the healing process of the wound, for example by manipulating the oxygen content and/or humidity, or by providing hyperbaric oxygen as part of a treatment protocol, or by introducing medicinal agents adjacent the wound surface. See, for example, Madalene C. Y. Heng, Topical Hyperbaric Therapy for Problem Skin Wounds, 19 J. DERMATOL. SURG. ONCOL. 784 (1993); Theodor Kaufinan, M. D., et al., The Microclimate Chamber: The Effect of Continuous Topical Administration of 96% Oxygen and 75% Relative Humidity on the Healing Rate of Experimental Deep Burns, 23 J. TRAUMA 807 (1983); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,881 to Viesturs, entitled “Disposable Hyperbaric Oxygen Dressing.” The medical industry would benefit from a practical system for surface wound treatment that provides medical professionals with a flexible way to control the topical atmosphere adjacent the wound, including application of aerosol medications and atmospheric constituents such as oxygen, as well as providing for collection of drainage from the wound site.
Several publications establish that surgeons were active years ago in applying a bandage or cover over a wound to provide a vacuum space above the wound to enhance healing. Nevertheless, Wake Forest University inventors, while not citing the publications, disclosed a vacuum wound therapy in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,645,081 and 5,636,643.
Conventional treatment of a surface wound typically involves placement of a packing or dressing material, such as cotton gauze, directly in contact with the patient's wound. Often there is a need to change the dressing material frequently because it becomes saturated with effluent material discharged from the wound. The frequency of the need to change the dressing can increase when the care giver applies fluids to the dressing such as a saline solution, peroxide, topical antibiotics, or other medicines dictated by various treatment protocols for different types of wounds.
Changing a wound dressing poses several potential problems for the care giver. Inadvertent contact with sensitive tissue within and adjacent the wound can cause significant discomfort to the patient as well as further trauma to the wound. Exposing the wound to the open atmosphere can increase the chance of infection. Dressings are typically secured in place with adhesives, and thus changing the dressing requires removing the adhesive from the patient's skin, posing risks of pain and trauma to the patient, especially if there is necrotic tissue. Similarly, the dressing material can bind with tissue within the wound, so that changing the dressing can cause tissue loss from the wound, resulting in pain to the patient and retarding the healing process. Medical care givers and patients both would benefit from a bandage system that provides sanitary collection and disposal of material discharged from a wound in the course of the treatment and healing process while reducing the need to remove dressing or packing material placed in contact with the wound.